For nearly two weeks, as another brutal, bone-chilling winter in southwest Detroit began to take shape, 16-year-old Malik Boynton found himself in the midst of an inconvenient yet necessary routine, doing what he needed to do to survive.

His days began the same way each morning. He'd emerge from an uncomfortable slumber at 5:30 a.m. next to his father and three siblings in the back of an old Ford Transit van parked on a neighborhood street. He'd pick out his clothes for the day, piled up in a cramped corner in the van, get dressed and head off to school.

Boynton repeated this cycle for two weeks, a period when his family was essentially homeless.

And save for a few close relatives, nobody knew. That was life for Boynton as he struggled to navigate through it without a home while trying to keep the appearance of having one.

"That was when I started to think this life isn't going to be easy," Boynton said last week, reminiscing about his upbringing in Detroit. "You're gonna have to fight before you get to where you need to be."

Malik Boynton was named a team captain his senior season.(Photo: Michael Millay/Austin Peay athletics)

That last line, in particular, has become a driving force for Boynton, a former Division I football player and recent graduate of Austin Peay. And it's a phrase he'll carry with him this weekend as he heads to Pittsburgh for the start of rookie minicamp with the Steelers.

The daily routine Boynton was forced to repeat as a teenager helped him become the person he is today. But it wasn't always like that. Things weren't always that bad.

He lived a self-described "normal" life in his early childhood. He had a loving mother, a supportive father, two brothers and a sister — and a roof over his head. He played sports, hung out with friends in his neighborhood and was as carefree as a child could be.

Then, as Boynton likes to say, life hit.

'You could feel the air leave the room'

In 2003, Pamela Boynton, Malik's mother and the rock of his family, felt ill. She went to the doctor one afternoon to see what was wrong. Just 7 at the time, Malik remembers watching his mother return home in tears.

She'd been diagnosed with breast cancer.

Her condition got worse over the years. There were times when she responded well to treatment and appeared to have beaten cancer, only to fall ill once again.

In August 2010, weeks before the start of Malik's freshman year of high school, Boynton's grandmother delivered the news to him and his siblings. Cancer had taken Pamela Boynton's life.

"You could feel the air leave the room," Boynton recalled. "I couldn't breathe for a second. (My grandmother) broke down crying. We all started crying."

Pamela and Kippriol Boynton pose for a photo in 2004, one year after she was diagnosed with breast cancer.(Photo: Malik Boynton/Twitter)

Life went on in the household, but things weren't the same. Boynton's father, Kippriol, lost his job working for the city. Their house had been paid off, but the family struggled to pay for necessary bills, like heat in the winter, to a point where the house became unlivable.

"We ran the house into the ground. We didn't manage it the right way, basically," Boynton said. "And lo and behold, we didn't have anywhere to stay, so we slept in that van."

After the two-week period, the family rotated through apartments for stretches before getting evicted. Finally, Boynton's father decided the best plan was for the kids to move in with their aunt. But she, too, was diagnosed with cancer, and her condition worsened.

Feeling like a burden, Malik set out on his own, bouncing around from home to home, living with friends, coaches, really anyone who could offer a place to sleep. Many of the people he stayed with were unaware of the full situation. Boynton wanted it that way.

"I felt like if they did find out, they wouldn't treat me the same as they did before," Boynton said. "Or they would look at me in a different light. I didn't want that at the time."

Where he grew up, Boynton said, it's easy to get involved with the wrong crowd. Most people don't go to college; they either work in a local factory or sell drugs. Boynton wanted more.

Malik Boynton poses for a photo with his father and siblings after a youth football game.(Photo: Photo provided by Malik Boynton)

Needing something to keep him busy, Boynton focused on football, playing four to five hours a day. And at Melvindale High School, what started as a hobby turned into a passion. Boynton developed into an All-State player as a wide receiver/defensive back/specialist his senior season. He saw his athletic prowess as a ticket out of Detroit.

He was lightly recruited, but newly hired Austin Peay football coach Kirby Cannon showed interest and extended a chance to visit campus. Boynton quickly developed a relationship with Cannon and committed to a school he was barely familiar with, 540 miles from his hometown.

"I was excited to see a new environment," Boynton said about leaving Detroit. "I was just kind of in awe of the fact that I'd be going to college outside the state of Michigan."

A fresh start

Boynton's first two years in Clarksville weren't what he expected.

Losses piled up. Players weren't taking practices or games seriously. Austin Peay became one of the worst football programs in the country, and Cannon was fired three years into his tenure, shortly after Boynton's sophomore season.

Boynton was hurt by the firing, but as he learned at a young age, life goes on.

Seven games into his junior season, playing against Mercer, Boynton, a defensive back for the Governors, found himself in the path of a running back who'd broken free up the middle of the field. Boynton lowered his shoulders to make the tackle, connected hard and fell to the ground. But when he tried to get back up, he had little movement of his arms and legs.

He collapsed on the field.

He laid on the ground unable to move. He was rushed to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with a spinal injury that left him partially paralyzed. In the following hours, Boynton regained control of his body and was told he was going to be all right. But doctors advised him to quit football.

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Austin Peay defensive back Malik Boynton (2) is taken off the field on a stretcher after a tackle against Mercer during the 2016 season.(Photo: Ayrika Whitney / The Leaf-Chronicle)

There weren't many reasons for Boynton to continue playing. He'd just suffered a serious injury. His team finished the 2016 season without a win, extending a 27-game losing streak dating to 2014. But Boynton had come too far.

"He wanted to come back the very next week," APSU coach Will Healy recalled. "And we were 0-7 at the time. We were concerned about his safety first, but I knew that the kid had something special by wanting to be back out there with his teammates."

In the following months, there were back-and-forth conversations about returning to the field. He was medically cleared in January 2017 and began training for his senior season at Austin Peay.

He was named a team captain. He represented the team at OVC Media Day, predicting a big season when media members predicted they'd finish last. Boynton was right.

Austin Peay had a remarkable 2017 season, tying a school record for wins in a season with eight, after going just 1-45 the previous four seasons combined. He played a huge role in the turnaround season, recording 51 tackles, three forced fumbles and an interception.

As he matured, Boynton opened up about his upbringing. His teammates know his story. His coaches know. Sharing his story with others allowed the team to grow.

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Austin Peay Governors get excited before storming the field for their homecoming game against Southeast Missouri on Oct. 21, 2017.(Photo: Erica Brechtelsbauer/The Leaf-Chronicle)

The kid without a home had found one in Clarksville.

"To me, he's the epitome of our program," Healy said of Boynton. "He's the face of the change. He's an incredible person and an incredible football player, but a lot of the success we had was because, as a leader, he was the face of the transformation."

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In 2016, Austin Peay's Malik Boynton suffered a spinal injury that doctors said should end his career. He joins the Steelers for mini camp this week.
Autumn Allison, USA TODAY NETWORK- Tennessee

The fight continues

After the season, Boynton got to work preparing for a shot in the NFL. Austin Peay isn't known to produce NFL talent, but Boynton was a standout with good size and speed as a defensive back, a few traits that impressed representatives of the Steelers at Vanderbilt's Pro Day in March.

Three days of the 2018 draft went by quickly. Boynton didn't hear his name and continued to wait by his phone for a call from a team.

Finally, hours after the draft concluded, he got one from the Steelers, who invited him to their rookie minicamp May 11-13.

Thank you @steelers for the opportunity 🙏🏾 I will give you my all... I promise you that 🗣

"I can't put it all into words," Boynton said after the draft. "For a quick second, I thought about all the things that happened to me. I thought about the seniors I came out with this year. I just thought about the dudes that helped me be a better me. It's an unbelievable feeling."

After the draft, Boynton returned home to Detroit, where his family situation has since stabilized. There, during a family barbecue, he spent time with his father, siblings, extended relatives and friends who'd helped him over the years. He'd come a long way since he left four years earlier.

This right here is what it’s all about. So blessed to have this man in my life. Through the good and the bad I knew it ain’t nobody else have me then he would... I appreciate you pops 💯 you one of the many reasons I do what I do‼️ pic.twitter.com/o1UajLkFVY

The odds of him making it past the weekend are slim, but the way he sees it, the odds were slim when he was born into a rough neighborhood that few people leave. They were slim when he lost his mother. They were slim when he was homeless, and even slimmer after suffering a career-threatening injury.